Photo: Don August
This A to Z compilation of Breeders’ Cup Turf facts will
give you some history, trivia, and betting angles about the horses, owners,
jockeys and trainers.
A – Andre Fabre’s 23
starters are the most for any trainer in the Turf. He has won the race twice
with In the Wings in 1990 and Shirocco in 2005.
B –
Better Talk Now
started in five consecutive runnings of the Turf from 2004 to 2008 with a
record of 5: 1-1-0 and earnings of $1,793,000. In 2004 Better Talk Now gave trainer Graham Motion his first Breeders’ Cup
victory.
C – Conduit is the
leading money winner in the Turf with $3,240,000 coming from his two wins in
2008 and 2009.
D –
In 2003 the Turf ended in a dead heat for the win between Johar and High Chaparral, who also won in 2002.
E – Twelve
winners of the Turf went on to be given the Eclipse
Award for Top Turf Male.
F – Four is the most
wins by a trainer or jockey in the Turf. Aidan O’Brien has victories in 2013,
2011, 2003, and 2002. Sir Michael Stoute won in 2009, 2008, 2000, and 1996.
Frankie Dettori leads the jockeys with four wins in 2010, 2006, 2001, and 1999.
G –
Only one German-bred horse has won a
Breeders’ Cup race and that was in the 2005 Turf with Shirocco.
H – High Chaparral sired Wrote, the winner
of the 2011 BC Juvenile Turf.
I –
Irish-bred horses account for 12 Turf
victories from Theatrical in 1987 to
Magician in 2013.
J – John’s Call in 2000 was the oldest
starter ever in the Turf as a nine-year-old.
K –
In 2000 Kalanisi and in 1993 Kotashaan were victorious in the Turf.
L –
The biggest long shot came in 1984 in the inaugural Turf when Lashkari won at odds of 53.40-1.
M – Trainers
Richard Mandella, Bill Mott, Brian Meehan, and Graham Motion
all got their first Breeders’ Cup victories in the Turf.
N –
Only nine betting favorites have won
the Turf.
O –
In
2011 the father/son combination of Aiden and Joseph O’ Brien won the Turf as the trainer and jockey of St. Nicholas Abbey.
P – Pennsylvania-bred Tikkanen won the Turf
in 1994 for Augustin Stables of George Strawbridge Jr.
Q – Quest for Fame and Quiet Resolve both started in the Turf twice without a victory.
R – Red Rocks, owned by J. Paul Reddam, won the Turf in 2006.
S – Sadler’s Wells is the leading sire of
Turf winners with four: High Chaparral twice, Northern Spur 1995, and In the
Wings 1990.
T – Michael Tabor has
won the Turf four times with three Irish-bred horses in 2002, 2003, 2011, and 2013.
U –
Horses based in the USA have won 13
times in the Turf.
V –
Jockey Patrick Valenzuela won the
Turf in 1992 with Fraise and John Velazquez
took it in 2007 on English Channel.
W –
The largest win margin in the Turf came
in 2007 when English Channel won by seven lengths.
X – In
his only Breeders’ Cup mount ever, jockey Eric Legrix won the 1991 Turf aboard the filly Miss Alleged.
Y –
The youngest jockey to ever win a
Breeders’ Cup race was 18 year-old Joseph O’ Brien in the 2011 Turf.
Z –
Trainer Maurice Zilber had the 11th
place finisher, Treizieme, in the 1984 Turf.
